Monthly Archives: November 2012

Once again, while the rest of the country continued to experience the effects of a stormy winter, Saturday morning (November 10) in the early pre dawn hours here in Southern California dawned clear, but as I walked out my back door and headed towards my garage, I was greeted with a chilly embrace. Winter temperatures had finally arrived. So protected from the morning chill by my trusty jacket, I fired up the Carrera, and headed south to Cars&Coffee.

By the time I arrived in Irvine, the temperatures seemed even cooler than when I left my house. Pulling into the parking lot, I quickly looked around to see if my friends (Gene, Ryan, Dave or Jeff) had arrived, since we usually park as a group. No sign of them, so I decided to park with the regulars over on Porsche row. And that’s when I saw it; the blue, Porsche 911 GT3RS 4.0 had returned. So with camera in hand, I was off to take another look at this truly unique car.

As noted in one of my previous posts (see link), this particular RS 4.0 was a special order car, not only for its Dark blue paint, but the graphics delete / elimination of the traditional RS 4.0 exterior stripes and Porsche text usually found on the rear wing.

One exception made to the graphics delete option, and located out back, was the retention of the RS 4.0 badging found on the rear deck lid, just below the rear wing.

However, since the cars last appearance, there has been a subtle graphic added to the rear valence, placed just to the right of the rear bumperette (as seen above and below). The significance of this graphic affixed to this car makes perfect sense, given the owners record of multiple class wins at Pikes Peak behind the wheel of various Porsche 911s.

Parked immediately to the left of the dark blue GT3RS 4.0’s, was this beautiful 1971 Porsche 911E, painted in another of the rare Porsche blues.

Depending upon the lighting that morning, this cars color shifted from the bright blue as seen above, to the darker, blue – gray value as seen below.

This Porsche also happened to be another car that has been absent from this event for some time, but is always rewarding to see in person. A 911E that has been beautifully restored, both inside and out.

And for anyone interested in restoring an early 911, this is a car that needs to be seen in person, to fully appreciate the level and attention to detail employed on this restoration, and the results that can be achieved when done correctly.

Parked towards the opposite end of Porsche row was another unique example, this one a beautiful red1996 993 turbo, wearing a set of RUF wheels, RUF lower front spoiler/valence, and running a sport exhaust system. I learned that this car was the latest acquisition made by Truspeed Motorsports, to be added to their current “for sale” inventory.

Parked across the aisle from Porsche row, was another very cool 911; in this case a Grand Prix white, ’07/’08 vintage GT3, that has been configured for club racing.

The track set up goodies for this GT3 also included a set of the very cool, 19″ GMG WC-GT Monoblock wheels in Charcoal gray (above and below).

Following on the mornings apparent rot, weiss und blau Porsche theme but with a twist, was this pair of Arena Red metallic Porsches, ; a 993 turbo on the left, and to its right, a 986 Boxster.

After making the rounds on Porsche row, I headed off to explore the rest of the parking lot. Just two rows over, and parked on the outside end of the row, I encountered this modified 2011 911 GT3RS, with GMG license plate.

After taking a quick visual inventory, it became apparent that the most obvious changes made over a stock GT3RS, were to the wheels and rear wing.

Given the overall width and profile of the carbon fiber rear wing, as well as the taller, red support struts, it appeared these parts had been sourced from the Porsche Motorsports / GT3 Cup Car parts bin (above and below).

A quick inspection of the wheels revealed what appeared to be a set of the GMG, WC- GT Monoblock centerlocks, color matched to the cars red graphics and accents…

As the mornings participants began to thin, this beautiful red, Porsche type 997 GT3 was revealed, parked all by itself…

And what Porsche fan in his right mind would not stop to check out a pristine red, Porsche GT3?

Porsche’s GT3 rear wing, specific to the 2007/2008 models (below). I’ve also heard this rear wing referred to as the “taco wing”, due to the folded contours and profile of the wing, and its resemblance to a taco shell…

These wings also came equipped with a black “Gurney strip”, located immediately behind the dual air intake scoops, to enhance and balance the aerodynamic downforce (as seen below).

It wasn’t until I arrived back home and began looking through my photos, that I suddenly realized the mornings theme obviously had to relate to the range of Technicolor Porsches that I had been fortunate enough to photograph that morning.

On Saturday November 3, those of us here in Southern California experienced another weekend of extended summer like weather. As a result, those in attendance at Cars&Coffee were treated to a truly eclectic gathering of automobiles.

With such a diverse cross-section of vehicles represented, I really felt as if I were walking through an outdoor art gallery, experiencing row after row of 4 wheeled art and sculpture. And with each new row, the experience resembled that of entering a new and different wing within a museum, and discovering the treasures within. And that was exactly the type of experience that would unfold before me that morning.

My first stop of the morning, with illumination courtesy of the rising sun, was with these two examples of classic, post WWII automotive art; in this case a pair of 1930’s vintage, American bred hot rods…

The 5 window coupe’s motor (as seen below).

The pickup truck even displayed what appeared to be a flying eyeball hood ornament, perhaps influenced by the famous flying eyeball logo /graphic created by California pin striping legend Von Dutch (below)…

Over at the featured lot, I encountered this beautiful British Racing Green Jaguar, with its sculpted curves being accentuated by some amazing reflections, courtesy of the early morning light.

There was no mistaking the origins of this particular model due to its unique design, and the badge on the front hood only reinforced the fact that parked before me was one of the very rare,1957 Jaguar D-type XKSS roadsters.

With the sunrise and reflections both working their magic, the shapes and contours of the front hood and fenders were beautifully displayed, and further illustrated the sculptural impact to the styling of this car.

Even when viewed from behind, the subtle contours of the body along with the angular, almost pinched profile of the side windows were further revealed and accentuated by the early morning sunrise.

Seeing this car in person brought to mind a magazine article I remembered reading years ago about Steve McQueen, in which the author described his ownership of a 1957 Jaguar XKSS. The article had mentioned several specific modifications that McQueen had made to his car. The first was to repaint the car a proper British Racing Green. The second was to add a locking door to the glove box cubby in the dashboard ( the cars were delivered without glove box doors). McQueen turned to one of his friends (Pin striper Von Dutch) for the fabrication of a locking glove box door, to correct the oversight by Jaguar. The third modification made was to have the original interior kept stock, but to have the upholstery redone in black leather, by none other than the Southern California-based drag racer turned custom car upholsterer Tony Nancy. This particular car parked in front of me possessed all of the aforementioned details, so the question remained; could this car be the ex-Steve McQueen Jaguar XKSS?

(Postscript: After publishing this post, I received an email from the owner of the XKSS one week later, wanting to clarify the origins of his car. I learned that it is in fact an XKSS re-creation, and not an original model. The amazing fiberglass body was created by Realm Engineering, located in the U.K., and is mounted to a Reynard Racing chassis, specified with Jaguar running gear. Power is produced by a 4.2 liter Jaguar motor, pumping out 300 horsepower, and is transferred to the rear wheels via a Tremec 5 speed transmission. Seeing this car in person puts the automotive re-creation industry in a whole new light).

My next stop would be to Porsche row, for my weekly visit.

A trio of early Porsche 911s, with the outer two displaying the optional Lietz roof racks…

The early 911 triplets as seen below (foreground to background)- 1969 911E, 1972 911 GT, and 1973 911E.

Located several rows over to the East, and down the aisle from the weekly Mercedes-Benz 190SL enclave, I discovered this trio of classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The first example (as seen below), in red and black, turned out to be a pre-war 1936 Mercedes-Benz 230 W-143 Cabriolet B; a spectacular and beautifully restored, touring car.

Sandwiched in-between the other two Mercedes-Benz vehicles, was this Ivory colored, 1930s vintage two-seat roadster with red interior, also appearing to have been restored.

Parked immediately to the right was what appeared to be a model 260D, W-138 series sedan, also sporting a two toned paint finish, in green with black fenders.

What made the 260 D model unique was that the D designation represented a diesel engined vehicle, and made this particular model the first diesel engined, series produced passenger car. And according to the Mercedes-Benz records, only 2000 of these vehicles were built between 1936 and 1940, at which time their production was stopped due to the war. All three of these cars literally looked like they had just rolled off of a Mercedes-Benz showroom floor.

As I continued my trek through the “gallery”, a white, early model Porsche 911 caught my eye, so I walked over to get a closer look ( see below). I had seen this car arrive earlier that morning, and remembered a comment made by a friend standing over on Porsche Row regarding its exhaust note. He stated that this particular car sounded exactly how a Porsche 911 engine should sound; Tight and clear with a smooth idle, and without any extraneous noise or valve clatter. And anyone who has been around or is familiar with Porsche 911s, will know the specific sound I’ve described.

I soon realized that there was something familiar about this car; I had seen it before, but could not remember where. It was then that the owner came over and introduced himself, as I was photographing the motor. I quickly learned that this car had been previously owned by one of the two founding members of the Porsche car club “RGruppe”, and after being shown an article written years ago in Excellence magazine about this very car and two other 911s, it hit me. That was where I has seen this car before, having read the same article, and obviously it had made an impression.

As a result of this cars previous ownership, this car was equipted with many of the cool, go fast Motorsports purposed, Porsche factory parts. This car would become a visual blueprint used by many a Porsche owner who aspired to building their own unique version of an RGruppe inspired, pre 1974 Porsche 911.

Shown below is the performance inspired interior; from the 911R styled, light weight door panels and pulls, to the Recaro sports seats for the driver and passenger, a Prototipo racing steering wheel (complete with the proper patina), and the removal of the radio, with a filler panel added and the void covered over. Even the speedometer and tachometer have been rotated to the left, to allow for the monitoring of critical vehicle speed and engine RPM at a glance; each gauge had been set in order to peg its orange needle at the twelve o’clock position).

Even the rear deck lid was given the RGruppe treatment. The stock, factory dimensional rear badging was removed, and replaced by adhesive backed vinyl graphics, once again taking inspiration from the early Porsche 911 race cars…

My last stop of the morning was to check out this stunning Orange, 2007 Porsche GT3RS. With the crowds and cars having thinned, I was able to move around and photograph the GT3RS without interference.

The lighting by mid morning created some incredible highlights, reflections and shadows, and created the visual impression of an airbrushed rendering.

My last shot of the morning and one of my favorite from the November 3rd event. The sunlight really brought this color to life, and showcased the collective styling cues unique to the GT3RS, re-stating the obvious: There is no substitute.

So should you find yourself in need of some artistic inspiration on a Saturday morning, come take a stroll through the automotive galley known locally as Cars&Coffee. You won’t be disappointed…

In sharp contrast to last weeks cool, gray and wet Saturday morning, this past Saturday morning dawned clear and crisp. And with the improvement in the weather came an abundance of amazing cars.

Driving through Porsche row I was greeted by a diverse collection of models already assembled and in place. As my headlights swept over the cars, I caught a flash of color, graphics and a collection of driving lights to my right. As I passed, I realized that parked side by side were a pair of Porsche 914-6; one a Tangerine colored street car, while the other in Signal Orange, was a purpose-built, Porsche Factory 914-6 GT race car, complete with hood and bumper mounted driving lights, Motorsports inspired graphics, and an ultra – trick motor. After parking and quickly consuming my breakfast, I grabbed my camera and headed to Porsche row to check out the pair of 914-6 I had seen earlier.

With the sun yet to reveal itself, and with one single pop of my camera flash, these car lit up like glowing embers in the darkness (as seen above).

Further down the row and illuminated by the early morning light, was this beautiful 1970 Lime green Porsche 911E complete with vintage roof rack…

One of my friends happened to walk by while I was looking at this Porsche, and asked if I had seen the white, right hand drive, Shelby 427 Cobra parked over in the Featured lot. I replied that I had not, so off I went in search of the mystery Cobra, especially since I had never seen one configured for right hand drive. As I approached, I could make out a Wimbledon white car gathering a crowd, and sure enough, here was the Cobra. As I moved closer, the owner and his son opened up the cars gloss black hood, to reveal an immaculate, big block Ford 427.

Obviously, with the car being configured for right hand drive, and based upon the graphic on the nose (LOV I), as well as the pair of amber-colored headlight lenses, my assumption was that this must be an English model. This seemed like a correct assumption, given that the nose graphic seen on this car is the English equivalent of a U.S. license plate. As I rounded the back of the car and approached the driver’s side, I noticed a magazine opened and resting on the rear fender. There on the pages, were photos of this very car (with the same LOV I ID), being driven in competition.

As my friend Dave and I stood looking at the car, we overheard a discussion regarding the car’s history, and learned that it had been successfully raced by the team of Bob Bondurant and David Piper in England back in 1966 at Brands Hatch, where the pair finished in first place.

As the morning progressed, the Cobra drew not only people but a trio of 1950’s and 1960’s vintage Porsches, as witnessed by the photos below.

To the Cobra’s left, a blue 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, and to its right, a blue 1957 Porsche 356A coupe, and just out of frame, a departing Red 1957 356A Speedster with a rare black, hard top option.

After leaving the Featured lot, I headed back to the main lot to look for new photographic subjects…

One of the hidden treasures relegated to the overflow lot, due to Saturday mornings overflow crowd, was this beautiful two toned, red & white 1958 corvette convertible…

Since the event was now bathed in full sunlight, I decided to return to Porsche row and take a second look at the pair of Porsche 914-6 that I had seen under darkness several hours earlier.

From all outward appearances, the black colored headlight bezel would lead one to believe that this race car could be a 1973 model, since Porsche installed white bezels on the 914 models from 1970 -1972. However, because this is actually a 1971 914-6 GT factory race car, maybe they used the black bezel for the sake of aesthetics (to match the black trim of the driving lights and front bumper)? For a brief back story on Porsche 914 headlights, please use this link, for details from one of my previous posts.

Looking back on the mornings encounters, I realized that an underlying theme to this post and to a majority of my photos had been car headlights. And all it took was this signal orange Porsche 914-6, and its abundance of illumination to set the stage…